Author Archive

In April 2010, Blackball Belgian IPA joined Big Barrel Double IPA in KARL’s Coastal Reserve, but this hoppy Belgo-American strong ale got its start long before the first bombers rolled off the line. In fact, the inspiration for this beer, like many of our most popular offerings, came from a small batch brewed at one of our brewpubs. I caught up with brewer Nolan Clark to recount how his “Belgian Stranger” strong ale evolved into today’s Blackball Belgian IPA.

If I remember correctly, it was around this time four-years ago when you started brewing some crazy one-offs in the pubs. What’s the story behind the infamous Belgian Stranger?

“The Belgian Stranger came about when I was brewing downtown… Some people don’t know me as a brewer for Karl Strauss but as a drummer, specifically for a local San Diego reggae band by the name of Stranger – hence the name of the beer. All the guys in the band love craft beer and enjoy drinking local brew just as much, so I wanted to create something as sort of a tribute to them. Long story short, I wanted to brew a high gravity Belgian Pale Ale with some of my favorite West Coast hops.”

Any particular reason why you chose to create a Belgian-style ale with a West Coast hop profile?

“I’d been drinking a lot of Belgian-style beers at the time but hadn’t really had many West Coast-style Belgian pales. I like simple things that function well, so I went with a pretty simple recipe; Pale 2-row, Carapils and C-40 for color – a pretty typical pale ale malt base that really makes the hops to stand out. I also chose an Abbey ale yeast from White Labs that could handle the higher gravity and would also impart the distinctive clove and spice notes characteristic of many Belgian styles. “

And the result?

“My simple approach ended up working really well. The Belgian yeast strain gave me a super dry and spicy beer that really allowed the citrusy Cascade and Amarillo hops to shine through. I also added some coriander and Curacao orange peel during the boil which added to the citrus and spicy notes in the beer.”

What did people think?

Are there any major differences between the original Belgian Stranger and Blackball?

“There’s really not too much difference between the two, other than the Stranger’s alcohol content (10.6%) and Blackball’s massive dry hop addition of choice New Zealand hops. Overall, if you put Stranger up to Blackball, you would notice that Blackball has a more pronounced hop profile, while the Belgian Stranger is a bit higher in ABV. To this day, I still refer to Blackball as the Belgian Stranger. Maybe I’m a little too proud, but sometimes you gotta savor those moments of inspiration and creative satisfaction. Drink up ya’ll and don’t forget to share. Cheers!”

Blackball Belgian IPAStats: 8.5% ABV – 14 SRM – 80 IBUFrom the label: When checkered blackball flags dot the California coastline, experienced surfers migrate to advanced breaks where strangers to the sport dare not. Blackball is a Belgian-inspired India Pale Ale with a robust West Coast hop profile. Belgian ale yeast, coriander, and Curacao lend a fruity and spicy character for an ale bolder than your average IPA. A blend of New Zealand and Cascade hops add a vibrant floral aroma and clean citrus hop bitterness that lingers through its’ crisp, dry finish. Drink up while it’s young, heavily hopped IPA’s are best enjoyed fresh.

When I began my career in the craft beer industry, Karl Strauss Brewing Company had just celebrated 18 years of brewing in San Diego. It was 2007; San Diego was home to a close-knit band of breweries, and you could count the number of craft-savvy beer bars on one hand. San Diego’s beer scene was plenty mature at the time, but the cult-like demand for San Diego beers was still a few years away. And while high-octane hoppy beers were putting SD on the international map, a more experimental and lesser-known brewing practice was developing behind closed brewery doors.

Experimenting with different ingredients and techniques is one of the most exciting parts of brewing, especially when a little spontaneity or a happy accident leads to new discoveries and complex flavors. The most exciting discovery of my first year with KARL was sour beers. In my life before beer, I knew nothing about spontaneous fermentation or wild ales; my only real experience was pouring a Duchesse de Bourgogne down the drain because it tasted like balsamic vinegar. That being said, my education began when I discovered a cache of dusty, cobweb-covered oak barrels in a dark recessed corner of the brewery. Curious, I asked around and learned that these barrels contained sour and spontaneously fermented ales inoculated with lactic acid-producing bacteria and wild yeast. At first, I didn’t know what to make of folks using bacteria and wild organisms to make beer, but after reading up on the styles and doing a little bar stool research, I was hooked. (more…)

If you’re a Wisconsin native or a regular at San Diego’s Hamilton’s Tavern, odds are you’re familiar with beer cheese soup. And while this awe-inspiring comfort food may throw a wrench in your quest to be the biggest loser, we think you’ll agree that beer cheese soup is worth a few extra minutes on the treadmill. So, if you’re looking to add another beer-centric recipe to your repertoire, celebrate this Super Bowl Sunday with Red Trolley Beer Cheese Soup.

If you’re hoarding a private stash of our 2010 holiday offering, Parrot in a Palm Tree, there’s no doubt you’re wondering how well it’s aged – and to be perfectly honest, we were pretty curious ourselves. So, like any self-respecting craft brewery, we took matters into our own hands and recruited a few seasoned craft beer professionals to evaluate the first installment in our less than literal “Twelve Days” series of holiday ales.

Parrot in a Palm Tree – Holiday Baltic Porter 2010
8.5% ABV – 50 SRM – 35IBUOriginal Description: Aged three months in San Pasqual Tawny Portbarrels, this winter warmer boasts a complex bouquet of dark fruits, espresso and chocolate, with hints of oak in its warming finish. Raise a glass to 2010 or save a bottle, as this limited release will age with the best of them.

Brewing a fruitcake ale as our 2012 holiday release was a crazy undertaking, so our sharing an off-the-wall recipe for fruitcake donuts shouldn’t come as a surprise. When considering how to include Mouette á Trois in our “Cooking with KARL” series, our first thought was to use the beer in an actual fruitcake, but that felt too easy. Instead, we took a page from the Voodoo Doughnut playbook and created fruitcake donuts. So, if you’re an adventurous type that wants to have fruitcake donuts with your fruitcake ale, try this holiday-inspired beer for breakfast recipe.

What sounds better for Thanksgiving than beer bacon stuffing? It’s not a tough question; if we didn’t have you at beer, we definitely had you at bacon. So, rather than search the web for the latest vegan or paleo-friendly alternative to Thanksgiving’s most important side, commit to diet-busting tradition and try this recipe for beer bacon stuffing. Remember, we all go back to the gym in January when exercise goes back in style. Heck, why not make a practice batch of beer seasoned bacon just for fun? Seriously, make a practice batch.

Beer Seasoned Bacon

Beer Seasoned Bacon

What to do:
Position oven rack about 6” from heat source and preheat to broil. Separate uncooked bacon strips and place 6 or 7 across broiler pan. Combine honey and beer in a small mixing bowl and microwave for 15-20 seconds. Remove mixture from microwave, stir, and use basting brush to generously coat both sides of each bacon strip. Dust bacon with black pepper and cook on Broil for 8-10 minutes, turning every few minutes to avoid burning. Once bacon is crispy, remove from oven set aside to cool. After bacon has cooled, finely chop and reserve in a bowl for later use.

What to do:
Preheat oven to 350. Add butter and chopped bacon to a large sauté pan or stock pot and cook over high heat until edges begin to brown. Add onions, celery, mushrooms, leeks, sage, thyme, and pepper and sauté for 5 minutes, or until onions are translucent. Reduce heat to medium, add beer seasoned bacon, and continue to cook for 2-3 minutes. Once beer seasoned bacon is incorporated, add beer and stock to the pot, and bring mixture back to a boil. Once you’ve reached a simmer, reduce heat to low and gradually add in stuffing mix. Once all ingredients are well incorporated, taste stuffing and add salt if needed. Cover pot and bake at 350 for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, remove lid and continue baking for an addition 5 minutes. If you’re successful, and you will be, the photo below is what you’ll have on Thanksgiving.

When San Diego Beer Week kicked-off for the first time in 2009, we brewed a special release Imperial Pale Ale to commemorate what has become an annual celebration of San Diego’s vibrant brewing community. The following year we made our SDBW special release an annual event with a small batch of SDBW Licorice Stout, and in 2011 we kept the tradition going with the release of our SDBW Double IPA. For this year’s beer week release, we chose a more experimental recipe conceived by our very own brewer John Hunter. Inspired by curiosity, Halloween candy, and a borderline obsession with peanut butter and chocolate, John convinced Brewmaster Paul and the rest of the Karl Strauss team to brew this year’s special release – SDBW Peanut Butter Cup Porter.

FAQ: I have a peanut allergy, will this beer make me ill?
Answer: YES!

If you’ve made a root beer float, this should be a no-brainer. Add two scoops of vanilla ice cream to an empty pint glass, pour chilled beer over the top, and garnish with a peanut butter cup. Growler fills of our SDBW Peanut Butter Cup Porter will be available 11/2 – 11/11 at each of our San Diego Brewery Restaurants. Mention San Diego Beer Week on Friday 11/2 or Friday 11/9 for an $8 ½ gallon fill.

If you’ve ever donned lederhosen and headed off to your local Oktoberfest celebration, you know the importance of eating before knocking back liter-sized steins of beer. And while Oktoberfest offers many a beer fan the opportunity to rekindle their fondness for day-drinking, nobody wants to go in unprepared. So before you end up buying a pretzel necklace out of desperation, consider trying this pork-filled beer for breakfast recipe. Prost!

Oktoberfest Pork Benedict

Oktoberfest Pulled Pork

Don’t stress, this part is easy and can be done overnight in the crock pot.

Who needs hollandaise when you can have sausage gravy instead?

What to do:
1. Brown uncased bratwurst and onion in a medium saucepan until nearly cooked through and crumbling.
2. Add Oktoberfest and simmer on low heat for 3 minutes. This will lend the flavor of a Wisconsin-style beer-braised bratwurst.
3. Add butter and return medium-high heat. Once butter has melted, stir in flour.
4. Slowly stir in milk, continuously stirring over medium-high heat until thick.

Other Ingredients:
If you’ve never poached an egg, here’s a link to Alton Brown’s method.
No need to bake biscuits from scratch, store-bought oven-bake buttermilk biscuits will work perfectly.

With Two Tortugas taking home medals at both the Great American Beer Festival AND the World Beer Cup, it’s safe to say the bar has been raised on our “Twelve Days” series of holiday ales. This year’s beer is Mouette à Trois, a San Diego spin on the traditional Three French Hens. Long story short, we don’t have French Hens so we’re compromising with French Seagulls. As for the beer, rather than selecting a more traditional beer style like the Baltic Porter (Parrot in a Palm Tree) or a Belgian Quad (Two Tortugas), we went the experimental route. We wanted to create a flavorful winter warmer that captured the perfect mix of holiday cheer and holiday cliché, so we brewed beer’s answer to fruitcake. Think of it as a blend of “HOHOHO Merry Christmas!” and “Hallelujah! Holy sh*t! Where’s the Tylenol?”

Have a look at the label below, keep your fingers crossed that it does well at GABF, and stay tuned for a sneak preview in our Brewery Restaurants.

Whether your first experience came on a trip to Ensenada or on a lunch run to Ralph Rubio’s namesake eatery, few street foods define our region better than the fish taco. No, we’re not talking about that fancy-pants smoked trout and goat cheese version served by your local pop-up gastro tent; we’re referring to the beer-battered, fried goodness of the Baja-style fish taco. And while the jury is still out on who makes the very best, we think the recipe below is pretty darn good – especially since it calls for Karl Strauss Amber.

Oh, and if you haven’t heard, Karl Strauss Amber has a new look. In honor of the 100th Anniversary of Karl’s birth, we’re celebrating the original “Godfather” of beer with new packaging. You can see the new label below.

Much like coffee beans and wine grapes, oysters and hops owe much of their flavors to terroir: the environments in which they’re cultivated. Mineral rich soil and long summer days in Oregon’s Willamette Valley give Centennial hops a floral aroma and resinous pine-like bitterness, while the cool waters of San Diego’s Agua Hedionda Lagoon gives Carlsbad Luna oysters a clean brininess and melon-like finish. With hundreds of hop cultivars and oyster appellations, there are virtually limitless options for pairing fresh oysters with hoppy beers.

Coast Kumamoto – Originally a Japanese appellation, Coast Kumamoto oysters are farm-raised in Humbolt Bay, California. They’re sweeter than the Sweetwater and fruitier than the Carlsbad Luna, making them a natural match with fruity Belgian IPA’s.

Carlsbad Luna – Carlsbad Aquafarm has been sustainably raising shellfish in San Diego’s Agua Hedionda Lagoon for the past twenty-five years. Their Luna oysters have a mild salinity and melon-like fruity finish. Look for them in San Diego restaurants or at a number of local farmers’ markets.

Grilling ribs requires a leisurely kind of patience – a low-and-slow attitude that’s not too common here in California. We’re not saying we’re impatient; it’s just that our patience is typically reserved for less leisurely activities, like rush hour traffic and the DMV. That being said, there are still plenty of ways to prepare a good rack of ribs without conceding any beer-drinking time. So, if you’d rather not spend your summer afternoons choking over a smoky barbeque, try our California-style BeerBQ Beef Ribs recipe below.

Step 1: Prepare marinade by whisking the ingredients below in a medium-sized bowl. Rinse ribs in cold water, pat dry, and place meat side down in a non-reactive pan large enough to accommodate ribs and marinade. Pour marinade over ribs, cover, and refrigerate for 8-24hrs.

Step 3: Preheat oven to 300. Pour both bottles of Karl Strauss Amber into the roasting pan, place rack with ribs over the beer, and cover entire pan tightly with aluminum foil. Cook ribs at 300 for 2 hours.

Step 4: Prepare orange chipotle glaze by blending the following ingredients in a blender or food processor. If you’re sensitive to spicy food, only use half the can of chipotle chilies.

In case you missed the memo, Windansea Wheat is now available in bottles year-round. That’s right, six-packs and twelve-packs of our refreshingly smooth Bavarian-style Hefe hit store shelves just in time for summer. So, to celebrate the bottle release of our favorite warm weather wheat beer, we’re sharing this fresh summertime ceviche recipe and pairing.

Traditional ceviche is a cold dish consisting of fresh fish, shrimp, or shellfish, cooked in citrus juice. Its origins are believed to date back to the Inca, but rather than compromise the brevity of this post with a culinary history lesson, we’ll just say that ceviche has been around long enough to vary from region to region. In SoCal, ceviche is typically prepared Baja-style, using fresh caught shrimp, or rockfish and lime juice. The recipe below is based on the Baja-style, with a few ingredients added to match Windansea Wheat’s bright fruity flavors.

Step 1: Combine fresh chopped shrimp and lime juice in a medium-sized bowl, cover, and refrigerate for 3 hours. The acidic lime juice will cook the shrimp, causing their color to change from blue/gray to pink.

Step 2: Remove lime marinated shrimp and drain off 2/3 of the lime juice. Add 8oz of Windansea Wheat, cover, and return to the refrigerator for an hour. Adding the beer will not only cut the acidity of the lime, but its sweet, fruity flavors will complement the watermelon and mango.

Step 3: Remove shrimp from refrigerator, drain off liquid, and transfer to a large mixing bowl. Add tomato, red onion, cucumber, mango, watermelon, jalapeno, and cilantro. Mix ingredients well, add salt to taste, and return to the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Even if you don’t consider yourself a Yelp-crazed foodie, you may have noticed a resurgence of “odd bits” on local menus. Comparable to beef tongue, cheeks, and tripe, oxtail holds a tasty place outside most people’s comfort zones. And while they’re more commonly used to create flavorul stocks and stews, we’re putting them to good use in a San Diego favorite – the street taco.

Preparing oxtail isn’t difficult, it just takes time (9-10hrs). Well-prepared, oxtail is rich, tender, and flavorful. If undercooked, it will have the texture of a chew toy. So, if you’re a patient master of the crock pot, this recipe should be right up your alley.

What to do:
Rinse oxtails in cold water and pat dry.

Coat oxtails in dry rub, cover, and let rest for 30 minutes.

Melt butter in a large skillet, dust oxtails in flour, and brown for 2-3 minutes on each side. When oxtails are golden brown, remove from skillet and reserved on a plate.

Add onions, celery, carrots, peppers, and garlic to the skillet and sauté on high until onions are golden brown. Transfer half of the vegetable mixture to the crock pot, adding the chicken stock and bottle of Off The Rails to the remaining vegetables in the skillet. Bring to a gentle boil and remove from heat.

Arrange browned oxtails in a layer over the sautéed vegetables in the crock pot. Pour the warm liquid contents of the skillet over the oxtails, cover, and cook on low for 9-10hrs.

Once the oxtails have finished cooking, meat should easily fall away from the bones.

Beer-infused Crème Brûlée? Yes, well, it’s more like crem-brew-lay, but you get the gist. What started out as an off-the-wall idea three years ago has since turned into one of our favorite desserts. Brewed with cocoa nibs and locally roasted Ethiopian coffee beans, Wreck Alley adds rich layers of dark chocolate and an espresso-like roast to this classic dessert.

Our Chefs Gunther and Corey, the masterminds behind this recipe, have earned a solid reputation with their drink beer/think food approach to cooking. Continually pushing the craft beer and culinary envelope with their innovative methods, these two were recently selected to share their expertise at this year’s Craft Brewers Conference in San Diego.

If you’re looking for something to pair with your after dinner Wreck Alley, give this recipe a try. Also, look for this and other great beer-centric recipes in an upcoming craft beer cookbook by Chef’s Press, the publishers behind San Diego’s Top Brewers.

Wreck AlleyCrème Brûlée

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Place stout in pan, bring to a slow boil and reduce to a ¼ cup. Place cream in a non reactive pan. Split vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape the seeds into the cream. The pod can be used as an additional flavor enhancer by adding it to the cream while heating, remove and discard before whisking. Heat cream and vanilla slowly until steaming. When cream starts to steam remove from heat. Do not boil the cream. While the cream heats through, whisk together egg yolks and sugar with wire whisk until pale in color and sugar is dissolved, about 1 to 2 minutes. Pour about ½ cup of the hot cream into the egg yolk mixture whisking quickly to temper the mixture. In a slow stream, add the remaining hot cream to the egg mixture while continuing to mix with the whisk. Add the reduced stout to the brûlée mixture and mix well. Divide the mixture evenly into six ramekins, placed in a deep baking dish. Fill the baking pan with hot water about half way up the sides of the ramekins and place in a pre-heated oven to cook for 40 minutes or until just set. Check for doneness by gently shaking the ramekins; the brûlée is finished baking when the edges are set/firm but the middle still jiggles a little. Place the ramekins in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours to cool before serving.

Finishing:

Sprinkle the top of each brûlée with a thin layer of granulated sugar. With a kitchen propane torch (available at most household supply retailers) point the flame onto the sugar and heat until it begins to melt and is deep golden brown color.

Or

Use the broiler setting of your oven to brown the sugar by placing the brûlée about an inch away under the broiler flame/heat source for 20 to 30 seconds. Check frequently to ensure even browning.

For an additional twist on this classic, add your favorite fruit like strawberries, raspberries or banana slices to brûlée. Gently insert fruit pieces by pressing them into the cold brûlée and follow the same finishing instructios above.

If you’re a craft beer drinker and you’re unfamiliar with PubCakes , we suggest you seek them out and discover what you’ve been missing. For the second year in a row, our Pastry Chef friends Misty and Kaitlin created a special beer-infused cupcake for our Anniversary. This time around, they were inspired by our 23rd Anniversary Old Ale; a beer with rich notes of bourbon, toffee and dried fruit. What they came up was such a hit at our annual Changing of the Barrels celebration, folks have been clamoring for the recipe ever since.

If you’re looking to have your life changed by a decadent dessert and beer pairing, test out this recipe provided by the ladies of PubCakes. And if you haven’t dropped by for a visit, check out their storefront in San Diego’s College Area, and try the Top 10 Cake made with our Tower 10 IPA.

2. In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients and sift together. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and brown sugar on high until mixture lightens and increases in volume. Add the egg and beat in well. Next, set the mixer to low and add dry ingredients and beer in 1/3 increments until fully incorporated. Finally, add the toffee bits and mix thoroughly.

3. Using an ice cream scoop or large spoon, fill the cupcake liners about 3/4 full. Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes, rotating the pan in the oven half way through the cooking time for even baking. The cupcakes are done when a stick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove cupcakes from the pan as soon as they’ve cooled enough to touch; this will prevent the bottoms from steaming.

1. Beat the first three ingredients at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy.
2. Gradually add the powdered sugar, beating at low speed until blended and smooth after each addition.

Pubcake Construction

Once the cupcakes have cooled, use the back end of a wooden spoon to put a hole in the middle of each cupcake. Put the butterscotch pudding into a zip lock bag and cut off the corner to fill each of the holes with pudding. Frost in a circle with the blackberry buttercream. Finally, top with a shortbread cookie, which were rolled about 1/4” thin and in 1 1/2” rounds. Slice a blackberry in half and place on top of the cookie.

Super Bowl Sunday is an American holiday about the important things in life: food, friends, and BEER. Regardless of one’s football affiliations, the big game has grown into a national Sunday Funday that usually leads to a three-day weekend. Whether you’re planning to watch the Super Bowl or the Puppy Bowl this year, odds are you’re going to be in the market for some good eats to go with your favorite beers. If this is the case, try our recipe for Red Trolley chili topped with beer-braised short ribs. Oh, and if you happen to run into Biff Tannen, ask him when the Chargers are headed back to the Super Bowl…

What to do:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Season short ribs with salt and pepper and dust in flour. In a Dutch oven or large ovenproof skillet, heat oil on high heat and brown short ribs for 2-3 minutes on all sides. Remove seared ribs from pan and reserve on a plate.

Add onions, celery, peppers, and garlic to the skillet and sauté on high until onions are golden brown. Season vegetables with salt and pepper, before adding chicken stock and Off The Rails. Bring mixture to a boil and return short ribs to the skillet. Cover and cook in the oven for 2 hours.

Uncover and continue to roast for 20 minutes, or until the meat falls off the bone. Remove from the oven and skim the fat from the braising liquid.

The Holidays are over and, like most years, overindulgence may have played a part in your annual waistline expansion. Now, we’re not card-carrying dietitians but we do know that there’s still room for beer in any healthy diet – it’s purely a matter of prioritizing. Rather than sip on soda water with your cheese fries, why not make room for a beer by having a salad? Even better, why not use beer to make a flavorful dressing with all natural ingredients? Try this recipe for Windansea Wheat Raspberry Vinaigrette and think twice before giving up beer. Remember, nobody likes a quitter.

Directions: Combine raspberries, honey and Windansea Wheat in a blender and blend until emulsified. You want this mixture to be a little on the sweet side, as the vinegar will balance it. Next, add seasoning, balsamic vinegar, and olive oil and blend on high. Congrats, you’re done!

The Pairing:Windansea Wheat is an unfiltered Bavarian-style Hefeweizen with a slightly sweet and fruity flavor profile. The beer’s fruity flavors are a natural compliment to the raspberry and pear, while its subtle sweetness is a nice contrast to the tangy goat cheese. Also, it doesn’t hurt that the yeast in suspension is rich in complex B vitamins.

To the uninitiated, bread has no business meddling with pudding. They both have their places and the thought of a tapioca sandwich is about as appetizing as pouring barleywine on your fruit loops. However, once you’ve tried the real thing, you won’t care what it’s called. Truth be told, there’s no better way to make use of stale bread, unless of course you’re one for feeding the birds.

There are many different recipes for bread pudding, using different breads, fruits, nuts, and spices but this recipe truly captures the flavors of the Holidays. If you’re looking for the perfect dessert pairing to enjoy along-side a glass of Two Tortugas Belgian Quad, give this a try. If you’re a bread pudding aficionado, check out this recipe by our Chefs Gunther & Corey in December’s West Coaster Magazine.

Day/Night Before: Place cubed bread in a large mixing bowl and leave out to stale overnight. In a medium-sized mixing bowl soak dried raisins, currants, and cherries in 10 ounces of Two Tortugas, cover, and refrigerate overnight. Pour the remaining 12oz of Two Torugas into a glass, sit down, put your feet up, and enjoy.

If you’ve ever made a Clark Griswold-style turkey, perhaps it’s time to give brining a try. A good beer brine will add flavor like a marinade, while sealing in the turkey’s natural juices. The chemistry behind brining is simple, but we’ll leave the osmosis and denatured protein talk for next time. All we need to know is that a beer-brined turkey is more flavorful and tender than a non beer-brined turkey. We’ve found the recipe below works particularly well with Off The Rails , Red Trolley Ale, or Fullsuit Belgian Brown . If cooking isn’t in the cards, we’re serving a full Thanksgiving dinner at our Carlsbad Brewery Restaurant.

Directions: Bring water to a boil and remove from heat. Add salt, sugar, honey, garlic, onion, and spices. Stir until salt, sugar, and honey are dissolved and cool to room temperature. This should take around 30 minutes and will allow the spices to lend their flavors to the brine. Once your brine has cooled, add beer and refrigerate until cold. Once your brine is cold, submerge your turkey and return to the refrigerator for 12hrs. This will yield 1 gallon of brine; scale the recipe up or down to accommodate the size of your turkey.

Tips: Be sure to THOROUGHLY RINSE your turkey in cold water after removing it from the brine to wash away excess salt. If you’re brining an extra large turkey, a plastic cooler makes a fine brining container.

In case you’ve been living under a rock, the 3rd Annual San Diego Beer Week kicks-off on Friday 11/4, beginning a ten-day county-wide celebration of our favorite barley-based beverage. With Beer Week comes an onslaught of pint nights, pairing events, rare beer dinners, beer book signings, and even brewer trading cards – I didn’t fact check that last one but it wouldn’t surprise me. With so many beer events going on, the real fun is planning events that stand out. For one of our events, we teamed up with KnB Wine Cellars for a beer dinner of a different kind. Beer and grilled cheese sandwiches: the ultimate beer and comfort food combination.

Research Materials

The research phase began with some “field work” at Venissimo Cheese Shop, followed by an afternoon of vigorous tests. In the end, we came up with some incredible pairings and discovered that beer and grilled cheese could quite possibly be the next big thing.

Below is one of our favorite pairings that will be featured at our SDBW event at KnB Wine Cellars on Friday, November 11th from 6pm-10pm. Look for more beer and grilled cheese pairings to come, as we’re feeling a blog series coming on.

Two Tortugas 11.1%ABV - Our most recent GABF award-winning beer with a bronze in the Belgian Abbey Ale category. Belgian candi sugar gives this robust strong ale a higher alcohol content over a medium body. The flavors are a delicate union of sweet toffee, dark fruits, and warming spices.

Bucherondin – “Boo-share-oh-DAN” An assertive and tangy French goat cheese that sharpens with age.

Brioche – A rich, sweet and buttery French pastry bread that can be found at your local French bakery or most Whole Foods, where you can also find fig jam.

The Pairing: The sweet toffee flavors of the Belgian Quad balance the sharp tanginess of the cheese, giving it a creaminess that complements the buttery brioche. The fig jam draws out layers of dark fruit with notes of fresh berries and plums. If there were a perfect grilled cheese for dessert, this might be it.

Rather than dazzle you with fun facts about Prince Ludwig of Bavaria, Gabriel Sedlmayr, or the origins of Märzenbier, we’ll leave the historical relevance of Oktoberfest to Wikipedia. What began as a Royal Bavarian marital celebration in 1810 has since evolved into the world’s largest celebration of beer drinking. So, before you strap on your lederhosen and head off to your local Oktoberfest biergarten for an afternoon of responsible consumption, consider priming your tank with a solid breakfast.

Below are a few breakfast options that will keep you going until you buy a pretzel necklace from a stranger. If you’re in the mood for something else, check out our previous Beer for Breakfast posts. And if you wake up on Sunday and don’t feel like cooking, we do a Beer Brunch at Brewery Gardens.

Step 1: Using a box grater, grate potatoes and onions and combine in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Add Oktoberfest, mix together, and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

Step 2: Remove potato mixture from the refrigerator and drain off excess liquid. Transfer to a towel or cheese cloth, form a pouch, and ring out as much liquid as possible.

Step 3: In a large mixing bowl, combine potato-onion mixture, eggs, bacon, flour, baking powder, salt, and pepper. Mix until you’ve achieved a consistency that’s somewhere between a batter and a dough.

Step 4: Form mixture into small patties that fit in the palm of your hand. Reserve on a cookie sheet until you’re ready to begin frying.

Step 5: Heat bacon fat or vegetable oil in large skillet on medium-high heat until hot. Fry 3-4 fritters at a time for 3 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Drain on a paper towel and serve hot.

Remember that one time in college when you split a brownie with your roommate and then ate an entire box of cereal? These aren’t those brownies but that’s not to say they’re not special. Until two weeks ago, I had never heard of a hop brownie. In fact, the thought of cooking, let alone baking, with hops left a bitter taste in my mouth. That all changed the day I visited the Goschie Hop Farm in Oregon and experienced Gayle Goschie’s special hop brownies. The interplay between hop character and chocolate was assertive yet delicately balanced – I was a fan.

Back in San Diego, I couldn’t help but wonder how well a hop brownie would pair with Boardwalk Black Rye. I decided to find out– and after several failed attempts in the unofficial Karl Strauss R&D kitchen (my house), I struck gold. In hindsight, I should have asked Gayle for her recipe but I think we can all agree that experimenting is fun.

Goschie Hop Farm, Oregon

Cascade Hop Brownies:

Cascade hop infused oil

Heat butter or oil in small saucepan over low heat until warm (too hot and you’ll extract too much bitterness from your hops). Remove from heat and stir in ground hops. Let stand for 5 minutes and strain through a coffee filter. Yields a little over ½ a cup of green hop infused oil/butter.

Directions

2. In a small bowl, combine dry ingredients and sift together. Set aside. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk hop-infused oil, sugar and vanilla extract. Next, add the egg and beat in well.

3. Gradually mix in dry ingredients until batter is well blended. Fold in chocolate chips before spreading evenly in your 8×8″ baking pan.

4. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes, rotating the pan in the oven half way through the cooking time for even baking. The brownies are done when a stick inserted into the center has a few moist crumbs but no batter.

Vanilla Bean Frosting

Hop Brownies from scratch

Directions
1. Using a paring knife, scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean. Add butter, sugar and 1/2 vanilla bean to a mixing bowl. Gently whisk until well blended. Whisk vigorously for 3 minutes, until smooth. Add the vanilla extract and continue to whisk for 1 minute.

You were planning to celebrate #IPADay at your favorite watering hole when your significant other reminded you that Thursday’s your night to make dinner. Don’t be a jerk and bail; flex your culinary skills and spice things up with some IPA jerk chicken . It may look like a lot of ingredients but it’s EASY and odds are you’ve had most of these spices in your cabinet since the 90′s. To further help the cause, growlers of IPA-to-go are $8 all day on August 2nd in our brewpubs. And if you’re not feeling like a culinary wizard, bookmark this recipe and join us at our #IPADay Cask Night tomorrow.

Step 1: Coarsely chop onions, garlic, scallions, and peppers and add to a blender or food processor.Step 2: Add liquid ingredients to blender or food processor.Step 3: Add spices and dry ingredients to blender or food processor and emulsify on high for 90 seconds.Step 4: Combine chicken and marinade and refrigerate for 8-12 hours.Step 5: For best results, grill over an open flame on high heat. Cook times will vary, depending on the heat of your grill and whether you’re using charcoal or gas. Keep in mind that poultry should reach an internal temp of 165 degrees before serving.